The Buckeyes lost to a gutty, hard-working Wichita State team tonight. It’s a tough loss to take.
It’s tough because the Buckeyes looked lost in the first half of this game. They settled for three-pointers, couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean, and played listlessly as Wichita State went out to a big lead. The lead got even bigger in the second half, as the Shockers built a 20-point lead. 20 points! But this loss also is tough because Ohio State didn’t quit and kept coming back. It made me proud, but it also made me wonder how the game might have gone if Ohio State had played with that kind of effort for the full 40-minute game.
It’s tough to end the season on the cusp of the Final Four, losing to a lower-seeded team. It’s tough because I’ve enjoyed watching this team this year, and I hope their journey would last just a little longer, and I could watch Deshaun Thomas, and Aaron Craft, and LaQuinton Ross, and the other Buckeyes who wouldn’t throw in the towel during the season or during this game.
All credit to the Wichita State Shockers for playing a fine game . . . but this loss is tough to take.
The win tonight against Arizona was a tough, hard-fought battle — just what you would expect from two great programs and two deep teams. Arizona looked very good for most of the game and built a big lead in the first half. But the Buckeyes rode Sam Thompson and Deshaun Thomas — whose icy shots kept Ohio State within range — and stayed close in the first half. The Buckeyes then played nails defense to start the second half, Aaron Craft made some great plays, the Buckeyes got out to a lead, built it, and then held on as their latest clutch shooter, LaQuinton Ross, made bucket after bucket to keep the Buckeyes ahead. Ross eventually made the game winner that advanced the Buckeyes to the Elite 8.
We’re to the point in the season where every team still playing is very good, and very scary. The Buckeyes’ first opponent, Arizona, certainly fits that bill. For years, Arizona has been one of the premier programs in college basketball. This year the Wildcats, seeded sixth in the West, are 27-7 and crushed their first two opponents in the NCAA Tournament. They are led by three players averaging more than 10 points a game – guards Mark Lyons and Nick Johnson and forward Solomon Hill — and have lots of size on the inside. Equally important during high-drama tournament games, Arizona has a number of seniors on its roster who can be expected to provide steady leadership during the high-stress moments. Arizona’s talented and deep roster appears to present a number of match-up problems for Ohio State. To top things off, the Wildcats’ coach, Sean Miller, is a Thad Matta protege who knows Ohio State’s coach well, and Arizona will have a home court advantage of sorts by playing in neighboring California. All told, I think Arizona will pose an enormous challenge for the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes ground out a hard-fought win over the Michigan State Spartans today, 61-58. The two teams like to battle and play body-up defense, and they showed those qualities today. Aaron Craft played brilliantly for the Buckeyes, and fortunately survived being hurled to the ground by the neck by the Spartans’ Derrick Nix, on a play that provoked a fusillade of obscenity and brought me out of my chair. But the Buckeyes hung tough, played through adversity, and when they needed a final bucket to put the game on ice, Deshaun Thomas stepped up and rattled down a jumper.
Coach Matta had to replace Jared Sullinger, a dominant center who led the Buckeyes to two Big Ten titles and, last year, a Final Four. Sullinger left early for the NBA — but Coach Matta is used to that. He recruits top-notch talent, and he’s lost many players who turned pro after a year or two at Ohio State. When that happens, he cheerfully accepts the challenge of reshaping his team, and each year he rises to that challenge. This year’s team has compiled a 22-7 record and is contending for another Big Ten title.
Remember, this is the Indiana team that manhandled the Buckeyes in Columbus. But tonight, the Ohio State backcourt of Shannon Scott and Aaron Craft controlled the game. Every time you looked up, Craft was driving to the hoop for a clutch bucket, or Scott was making an unbelievable steal to keep the Buckeyes in control. And the Hoosiers lost.
So, here’s what will happen. I’ll watch the game. I’ll stay up later than I normally do. I’ll be charged up about the game for a prolonged period of time. And when the game ends around 11 p.m. or so, I’ll be unable to get to sleep right away. Either I’ll be upset at how the Buckeyes played and focused on their loss when I try to sleep, or I’ll be excited that Ohio State somehow pulled off an improbable road victory — on Indiana’s senior night, no less, when the Hoosiers are trying to win an outright Big Ten championship — that the adrenalin won’t let me rest. Either way, I’m not going to get a good night’s sleep. And don’t even raise the possibility of overtime!
We fans, however, are pining for a weekend game. I enjoy the adrenalin rush the games provide, and I rationalize that the spikes in my blood pressure caused by bad calls from referees during an OSU game probably are good for my system. Every once in a while, you want to make sure that your body can withstand various stresses. Isn’t that what those doctor-supervised stress tests are all about? Getting seriously into a Buckeyes game is just the self-administered version.
Kish was shocked, and perhaps neighboring fans were, too. She yanked me down and pleaded that I never do that again. In particular, she said, I should never comment on someone’s physical appearance.
During most of Thad Matta’s highly successful tenure as the Ohio State coach, the Buckeyes have been at the top of the Big Ten. They’ve dominated the Wolverines and knocked them out of the Big Ten Tournament three years in a row. This year, though, the tables are turned. Michigan is unbeaten and, with Duke’s loss yesterday, will be ranked number 1 in the land if they can beat the Buckeyes today. Ohio State, on the other hand, has seen its offensive struggles continue and isn’t the overwhelming force of the past few years. The Buckeyes got crushed on the road at Illinois and will have to play their best game of the year to beat the Wolverines.
